Finding a Place in the History of Feminist Televsison
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FINDING A PLACE IN THE HISTORY OF FEMINIST TELEVSISON: SEXUALITY IN HBO’S GIRLS By Madison Grace Clark Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Honors in Visual & Media Studies University of Redlands Redlands, California April 2015 © Copyright by Madison Grace Clark 2015 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Television and Feminism History 3 Conflicting Sexual Desires and the “Sex Wars” 17 Casual Sex and its Narrative Implications 26 The Role of Sexuality in Defining Oneself— Breaking the Virgin/ Whore Trope 29 Reproductive Justice, a Foundation for Female Support 35 The Importance of Young Adulthood in the Progress of Feminist Programing 39 Bibliography 41 iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To my beloved friends, family and professors, without your unwavering support this project would not have been possible. A special thanks to Kelly Hankin for her steadfast commitment to my success and delightful sense of humor—I could not have asked for a better advisor for this journey. To Jennifer Nelson, your guidance through my research and writing process is very much appreciated, thank you for pushing me to think outside of the box. Lastly, to Alon August, Emma Haas, Jackie Starks, Gregory Clark and Diana Clark, thank you for always encouraging me to work my hardest, even when the work may seem impossible. iv ABSTRACT This essay analyzes the HBO series Girls (2012-) from a feminist media studies perspective. Through an in depth analysis of the history of feminist television, this paper claims that Girls takes a pro-sex feminist stance on issues of sexuality and identity and therefore progresses the timeline of depictions of feminism in prime-time television. A discussion of the socio- political debates between feminists during the Women’s Liberation Movement, known as the “Sex Wars”, serves to anchor the series to a specific feminist discourse. Ultimately Girls utilizes its coming of age and sex comedy narrative to discuss the uncertainty that comes with exploring one’s sexual identity during early adulthood. The series’ dealings with expressions of conflicting sexual identities, discussions of reproductive justice and themes of complex female friendship furthermore connect it to programs from past decades that were, just as Girls is now, feminist landmarks of their time. v Introduction: This essay will analyze the HBO television series Girls , both critically and textually, in order to uncover the ways in which the series speaks to two overlapping, yet equally important spheres of academic study. By studying Girls from the perspective of Feminist Media Studies, this project will first address the history of depictions of women in television and later situate those representations within the greater context of feminist discourses around sexuality and identity. It is vital for this work to first define these fields of study so that we can better understand the ways in which Girls serves as a suitable text through which we can examine themes in each field. Feminist media studies stems from the broader fields of Media Studies and Women and Gender Studies (Watkins and Emerson, 2000, 152). As a field of research, it focuses on the various roles women play in the production and consumption of visual media. This field of study functions in relation to the myriad goals of the second wave of feminism that took place during the 1970’s and 1980’s and in turn draws particularly close attention to the impact women have both on and off screen. By addressing said representations and the reception of these images, particularly the ways in which female characters function in relation to male counterparts, assumed gender roles, and the struggle over power, Feminist Media Studies strives to examine the impact these images have on society at large, either through their potential to deconstruct or affirm preexisting norms (152). Throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s, feminist media criticism and practices stemmed from discontent with misrepresentations of women in television and film (152). In this era, women were drawing attention to their position within various domestic, political, and cultural spheres and feminist media scholars in academia began questioning women’s participation in, representation by and creation of various media industries. During this period, feminist theorists attempted to both critique and recreate media forms. In doing so, these works strive to create “counter narratives and counter representations that contest male regimes of cultural production and empower women to use media for their own interests and pleasure” (152). Feminist Media Studies analyzes the way in which media positions women, investigates how female audiences consume various mediums, and urges women to take active roles in producing media texts that reflect their lives and experiences. Within the field of feminist media criticism, there are numerous methodological approaches including reception analysis, historical analysis, theoretical analysis and textual analysis. This essay will contribute to Feminist Media Studies by offering an historical and textual analysis of how Girls stakes a claim around still controversial feminist discourses of sexuality—a topic that garnered feminist attention during the pro-sex and anti-sex feminist debates of the 1980’s, now known as the “Sex Wars”. In order to accomplish this, I will look at the representations constructed by the series and discuss, in depth, the ways in which these representations are vital to the development of feminist images in prime-time television. Through both narrative and character development, Girls works to explore three crucial realms of feminism via one unifying theme. This essay will argue that the series adopts a pro-sex stance on depictions of sex, expressions of conflicting sexual identities, and discussions of reproductive justice. In doing so, Girls also addresses a number of other feminist concerns. Among these topics are, gendered roles and expectations within society and a sense of camaraderie among women —both of which are familiar themes in feminist television series from the past. In light of the series’ unique dealings with these themes and refreshing depiction of female sexuality and identity, Girls warrants a critical discussion of its efforts. 2 Television and Feminism History: When it comes to the relationship between feminism and television, the history can be a bit complicated. Women’s roles within the television industry have varied over time and therefore the timeline of feminist images in television has not strictly been one of progress. For the purpose of this work however, a timeline is vital in order to situate Girls within an appropriate sphere of contextual criticism. Many of the issues addressed within Girls draw upon thematic elements from television shows that were feminist landmarks of their time. The key element in discussing the significance of Girls and shows preceding it in a meaningful way falls upon one’s ability to understand the social climate within which each text was produced. In short, understanding the culture in which a show was created allows us to both better understand the show and the culture. In her book Prime-Time Feminism: Television, Media Culture and the Women’s Movement , Bonnie J. Dow establishes a timeline of feminist issues portrayed in prime-time television. Beginning in the 1970’s and making her way well into the 1990’s, Dow focuses on the impact of television on the cultural dialogue of feminism. Among some of her main points, Dow emphasizes the representations of women in relation to their devotion to careers, more precisely the ways in which social expectations of marriage and domestic roles shape the types of female characters that are cast in television series (Dow, 1992, 30). Her discussion later turns toward the influence of consciousness raising groups on the depictions of “Therapeutic Feminism” which, in Dow’s eyes, is the portrayal of a woman’s awareness of the impact patriarchy has on the construction of femininity and female empowerment (64). Lastly, Dow discusses the impact of postfeminist mentalities on the types of feminist characters that fill our television screens (86). Girls in many ways, owes its existence to these series that came before it. In short, the long list of series that failed to fully develop nuanced 3 themes and feminist characters laid the foundation for Girls’ representations of female sexuality and identity. More importantly, without the myriad efforts to include feminist discourses in the overarching narratives of these shows, our understanding of the intersection between feminism and popular culture would be vastly different. At the time of its inception in 1970, The Mary Tyler Moore Show conformed to a style of fictional television that is considerably different than what we are familiar with today. Series with prominent female characters often built narratives that placed women in the home, which in turn reinforced the supposedly rightful and inevitable position of women in domestic roles. While The Mary Tyler Moore Show was not the first working –woman sitcom, it is regarded as the first to frame working women in a way that emphasized their ability and willingness to find fulfillment in a work centered life in the same fashion that men could (24). Furthermore, work wasn’t depicted as a temporary state or substitution to marriage in this series. Based on the life of lead character, Mary Richards, The Mary Tyler Moore Show proved to be wildly successful both in its reception and reproduction. The series launched three separate spinoff series and the situational, comedic format can be traced through a number of feminist series to date. Of all of its notable representations of liberated women, The Mary Tyler Moore Show thrived through its willingness to confront gender biases through equal opportunity rhetoric (31). The series itself offered audiences a visible and relatable depiction of issues prominent within second wave feminist movements. Not only was The Mary Tyler Moore Show giving female characters power, but the narrative also followed the effects of that female empowerment in all of its nuanced forms.